GOOD HOME DESIGN REQUIRES LAYERING GREAT TASTE, CAREFUL PLANNING AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL
DAWN KLINGENSMITH

Celebrity designer Sabrina Soto believes these disappointing outcomes happen when a person lacks a simple, reliable approach to bring his or her vision to life. To ensure better results, Soto suggests the practice of “layering,” outlined in her new book “Sabrina Soto Home Design: A Layer-by-layer Approach to Turning Your Ideas into the Home of Your Dreams” (Wiley, 2012).

She likens her design process to getting dressed. Each layer of clothing goes on in a specific order, with the Spanx providing a smooth base layer and a silver bangle and manicure serving as finishing touches.

Home design comes together the same way, but in eight sequential layers, says Soto, host of HGTV’s “Get It Sold,” “Real Estate Intervention” and “The High/Low Project.”

The first layer is, essentially, nudeness. Strip the room down by moving out all the furniture and window treatments. “This isn’t about getting rid of things,” Soto says. “It’s just that when people live in a space for a long time, they can’t imagine all the different possibilities.”

Make a sketch of the floor plan including doorways, windows, light fixtures, outlets and built-ins. This sketch will be used later on to play with furniture positioning.

The second layer is color. Soto offers a simple way to select a color palette called the “system of trios,” also called the 60-30-10 rule, representing the ideal coverage area of each of three colors. First, choose a primary or theme color to cover the largest physical area. Then, choose a secondary or supporting color. Finally, pick an accent color to use sparingly.

The system of trios is about choosing the main colors and approximate proportions, not about excluding colors or calculating with precision.

The third layer is selecting surface treatments, followed by steps four through eight: integrating storage, “editing” the furniture (deciding what to keep or replace), lighting the space and adding accessories like decorative pillows and houseplants.

Planning for storage comes early in the process because it too often becomes an afterthought, Soto says: “You can have the most gorgeous space, but then you set the kids loose in it and it always looks like a mess. So you have to account for things you live with like toys and magazines and, as part of the design process, figure out where you’re going to put them.”

Part of furniture editing includes establishing the “centerpieces” — the main furnishings that define what a room is used for, Soto says. Position them first, because they set the tone, anchor the layout and determine the placement and proportion of other furnishings.

This process always works for Soto, but other designers have their own tips. Jennifer Agus of Agus Interiors, New York City, says furniture selection generally must come earlier in the process since “your furniture pieces need to support the function of the room,” and determining a room’s function is obviously a beginning step.

She also says it’s not necessary to pick colors before furniture, because many retailers allow you to choose a piece and then upholster it to your liking.

In reality, the starting point for each redesign is different, says Longview, Texas-based design consultant Karen Davenport. “There may be an area rug or some other big piece you have to work around,” she says. “Maybe you fall in love with a fuchsia settee and the whole room needs to revolve around that. Sometimes, it’s the little things that dictate the design of a whole room.”